Her Name Implied Tears
by threadmaster alchemist
Summary: Probably going to hate the title later. anywho. Being back in the states was weird and getting accustomed to it even weirder. What he should have expected was running into old friends. College AU, OC. I am really bad at summaries. read the authors note attached to the first chapter. I kind of outlined whatever else needs to be said there.


**Authors note:** PLEASE READ First of I want to say HI! this is honestly the first fiction I have published since 2011 *gasp* I can't believe it was that long ago.

So I have never written a fanfic with an oc this is my first. I really can never wrap my head around the whole concept of mary sue but I hope do not have one. I mean this girl is far from perfect and actually pretty messed up.

Also this is set in an AU more or less. Basically Kagami, Kuroko and Himuro came back to the states for college etc. I really hope I am not making any of them way ooc but its possible.

OCs name is rain (and she knew kagami and himuro before they returned to japan etc.) **I think that is about it but I do want to mention that this fiction is rated M for a reason. There is Drinking and smoking and drug use involved. possible lemons. and so far there isn't any but there is possible self harm. **

So far I do not have an end of this story in my head so it could be a collected bunch of one-shots all set in this au with these characters. more like slices of the lives these guys are leading and that type of thing.

Without further ado lets get to the story. I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke!**

I did however invent the OC so shes mine.

* * *

The sound of traffic was almost drowned out by the sound of the basketball hitting the ground of the court and the shuffles and slaps of players feet against the concrete. Bystanders stood on the outlines of the court cheering and egging on the players. This was no official match but an almost primal game between a mismatched group of misfits, mostly inner city kids - a scraggly group of teenagers and 20 something year olds from around the neighborhood. the onlookers comprised of individuals of the same caliber. They stood around in clusters puffing on cigarettes, and passing around barely masked bottles of beer or liquor, hidden in brown paper bags. In one corner there was a small circle - or cyph passing a blunt around. Half the members of the cyph double fisting with their own cigarettes in a half assed attempt at masking the smell of the marijuana they were smoking .

Kagami Taiga walked up to the court, inhaling deeply and taking in the unfamiliar, yet familiar sight. He stopped and looked around wondering why he had stopped feeling like he belonged in places like this. Being back in the states was all of a sudden very foreign to him. He gave up trying to think and focused his attention on what he was familiar with - The game. But even that almost felt foreign to him. He started trying to remember when he had last played a game of streetball like this. He realized that it had been years ago. He scanned the players wondering if there were any familiar faces out there. He realized it was ironic, coming back to the states for college and ending up in the same city that he had originally left. Returning his mind to the game, he recognized one guy from middle school, who he had played with occasionally, the guy's name was brian, he was a tall almost seven foot african american. Kagami watched as he drove towards the goal, and jumped high, sinking in a powerful dunk. It was an intense game, Kagami smiled slightly as he lost himself watching the game, and listening to the cries and catcalls that followed the teams as they played.

Half time hit and the game paused. Kagami had shrank back into the crowd. He didn't know exactly why he was still hanging around, he had to get back to campus for his own basketball practice. He ended up chalking it up to the nostalgia of living in the states again after quite a few years. He had visited, he had family here still after all but they weren't exactly all that close. And officially living here again was totally different. It had been a hectic year, after transferring colleges from Tokyo, after he and Kuroko had been scouted for their new school's team. Kuroko seemed to be taking to the city well enough. But Kagami had gotten restless way too soon. he was happy to be playing college ball with a lot of other strong players but he felt stuck. In Japan he had known where he belonged, but now being back here and getting used to a new team…

"Tai?! Taiga!" Kagami got startled out of his thoughts by someone yelling his first name. He looked around, he hadn't realized but he had been completely spaced out. He finally pinpointed where the voice had been coming from and noticed the surprisingly familiar brunette - well mostly brunette the bottom half of the shoulder length brown hair was dyed a blood red. Kagami did a double take in surprise, it had been years since he had seen that face. He looked closely from the distance that was closing as the girl made her way towards him. She had changed, her eyes no more sparks of optimistic joy, they had been replaced with eyes that gleamed with dark cold steel, despite that he noticed something in the far back of them that must have been mischief, a flash of of the old. He let a nonchalant smirk grace his features. "rain?" he spoke her name as she continued to break through the crowd and make her way towards him. Cigarette smoke trailing from her mouth. Her gait was smooth though a slight bit uneven - he realized she was not exactly sober, though from what he couldn't pinpoint.

"Tai, what are you doing here? its been years! you disappeared… So what you finally decided that Brooklyn was better than Tokyo? Hey hows Tatsuya? He went back to Japan as well, did you see each other there? Did you play together? You guys both ditched me, ha, left me in this shithole…" She gushed then trailed off and fell silent her face going from gleeful and excited to something more like sad and lonely.

Kagami felt struck dumb for half a second as his brain processed the tirade and began trying to figure out how to respond.

They both paused and he followed the first instinct that jumped to his head and went for a hug wrapping her frame tightly in his arms for a second before abruptly breaking apart "すみません"

he mumbled then groaned realizing that he had slipped languages, this whole adjustment was so annoying.. He realized he still had to answer her question as she looked at him puzzled slightly at how apologetic he was acting over a hug. Right America, where people weren't so guarded and physical touch was a lot more normal.

"College" he answered simply finally having the english seem to flow easier in his mind than it had since he had arrived back. They both turned to face the basketball court.

"Do you still play?" Rain asked nodding towards the court. Kagami regarded her for a moment then threw back his head and laughed.

"Of course! what kind of a question is that? Its why I ended up back here." He grinned, Maybe returning here wasn't going to be all that bad after all.

Rain nodded in approval and watched the two teams file back onto the court as halftime neared an end.

She had noticed that Kagami had stiffened up when she mentioned Himuro and since she still wanted an answer out of him tried to figure out how to get one. She finally softened her voice before she spoke again. "So… Tatsuya?" She asked as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of her hoodie and loosed a fresh one out of the pack trying to watch his reactions out of the corner of her eyes as she lit the cigarette.

The question caused Kagami to pause for a minute. A lot of memories danced across his mind. He sighed there were really still a lot of unspoken words between him and Himuro. Over the last few years he had only really seen him every so often. On the basketball court at tournaments. Though after arriving back from Japan he often found himself thinking back to the good times they had had together in middle school. Everyone has really changed Kagami thought. Frequently he found himself missing the old days where things were so much less complicated. He realized that Rain was looking at him and that he had taken too long to respond again. He opened his mouth, closed it again and then began to speak.

"Well to start I guess, we lived in different part of the country… He still plays, we battled on the court."  
Rain nodded, while she had barely spoken to Kagami at all since he had left for Japan right after finishing middle school. Tatsuya and herself had kept in touch a bit better at least at first and had kept in contact via skype and facebook, with the occasional postcard or letter thrown in. She thoughtfully puffed on her cigarette.

"You both were on really strong teams in high school?" She just kept throwing questions at him. He sighed and nodded.  
"Yeah we were." He smiled as he fondly remembered high school and how strong of a team he had been a part of and helped to build at Seiren. Even if he had lost Tatsuya as his brother he had made enough close friends through basketball to make up for it if not completely, well good enough. He still was in contact with most of them, even now still playing with one - his shadow. "We were a really strong team. " He confirmed.

"Himuro found one also." He finished thinking of his old friend and the games he and Seiren had played against Yosen. Rain smiled at him and nodded. Their attention shifted back to the court as the referee blew his whistle and the game began again in earnest.

Kagami watched the game but kept feeling his attention wander to rain. Him, Himuro and Rain, she had followed them everywhere and in the end she had ended up being something like their glue, keeping the three of them always together. But as is the way with life everything back then had moved so fast. Everything felt like it had fallen out of place, the decision for him to go back to Japan. No that wasn't the right chain of events.. First Rain, he remembered the day she had been thrown back into foster care, Social services had shown up after school. It had happened before but never like that, she had always come back a few days or a week or so later, but not that time, It had been the end of the school year as well, he and Himuro had fallen out and he left for Japan.

He watched as she cheered and was involved in the game, still working a cigarette between her lips. She had grown up he realized. Wondering exactly how different their worlds had been, the last few years. In that moment he desperately wanted to travel back in time and go back to the way things had been the three of them, an unstoppable trio.

His phone rang suddenly, and Kagami cursed to himself as he looked at it - it was Kuroko, probably wondering where he was, he had to get to practice. Looking at Rain apologetically he answered the phone. "mushi, mushi. Hai. on my way, See you." He hung up the phone.

"Sorry I got to go… Practice." He spoke to Rain. She nodded and before he could think she hugged him.

"Alright, wait let me give you my number" she grabbed his phone and started typing numbers into it.

"this way you can't be a stranger, especially now that you are back." She grinned. "Don't be late now, text me, and we can hang out some time and catch up more!"

Kagami nodded "Alright will do. It was good to see you."

She gave him a little push towards the street as his eyes strayed back to the game that was in full motion.

"go" He nodded and started walking away.


End file.
